McLovin'
by foxtrotelly
Summary: Sometimes not everything happens just as ordered, so expect some homeruns and Big Macs coming your way. "So would you like a dropkick and pole with your quarter pounder, sir?"


This one's completely random, and I just came up with this days ago when I saw a cute little kid come up to a man so that she could take his order. Assisting her was a lady who worked in Mcdonald's herself, and well, looking at the three of them gave me this idea. Enjoy. (:

**Disclaimer: **Gakuen Alice copyright © Tachibana Higuchi, 2003-Present

_Ok, so I don't own McDonald's either. And I don't own the Mario Brothers and Princess Peach for that matter, too._

* * *

**McLovin' **

_**by foxtrotelly**_

_~Dedicated to Kamichama-Pita~_

_Hullo there, I'm crazy but let's just say that's the way I roll. Thanks for being the long-lost-dedicatee I was looking for. XD_

_**:) :) :)**_

* * *

**Present day, Office of the Management**

_5… 4… 3… 2… _

As if on cue, a brunette furiously came storming in through the management office door.

_...1. _

The raven haired girl sitting in the desk before her looked up, an expression of wry amusement marking her beautiful features. Hotaru had known she would be coming for her daily rant.

"Hotaru, _argh, _we need to talk!"

Needless to say, she was already prepared for this – almost everyday, actually.

"That's Miss Imai to you, Sakura," Hotaru coolly greeted her.

Mikan feigned an apologetic look. "Oh, my mistake, _Miss Imai_," – but kept her pitch nonetheless – "it's not my fault I have the _best_ job in the world!"

Hotaru responded to this lividly. "Hm, I smell sarcasm. Is it me or have you just been staying way too long by the microwave oven?"

This time Mikan looked indignant. "I have not gone crazy, Hota – Miss Imai! It's just that – "

"– the people involved in your workplace are affecting your over-all well-being," her raven haired best friend finished for her.

Rolling her eyes, Mikan opened her mouth to speak, but Hotaru had already taken the pleasure of speaking for her. "And just so I know, if I'm not going to do something about the issue then that would be leaving you no choice but to resign from this dead end…" she lazily trailed off, letting her the brunette have her turn this time.

"– sorry excuse of a summer job my mother made me take just so that I can still pay for dog food and softball lessons!" Mikan irately said.

Hotaru raised her eyebrow cynically before going back to the papers she was working through. This, however, only proved to irk Mikan even more.

"I – "

"I clearly remember you saying you had to pay for tampons and iron deficiency pills the other day, you know," a voice drawled from behind Mikan, who in turn, quickly spun around to face the newcomer.

"_You!_" she pointed a shaking finger at the boy in front of her. "You are _so _gonna ge – "

"Hyuuga, close the door. Mikan, don't launch yourself at Hyuuga and sit down," Hotaru tersely ordered.

Natsume lazily smirked before closing the door behind him and sitting down beside Mikan who had taken to crossing her arms and turning away from him with a fuming mad expression on her face.

"Looks like the PMS has finally set in," Natsume commented. "So what do you need me in here for, Imai?"

"That's _Miss Imai_ to you, douche," Mikan interjected.

"Whatever."

"_Argh, _Hotaru! He's being pissy – "

"Just…_shut the hell up_, both of you," snapped Hotaru coldly, adding, "you're giving me a headache." She pressed her fingers against her temple as she narrowed her eyes at the two awkward teenagers before her. "Now – What is it, Sakura?" Mikan had raised her hand.

"Can I say something?" she asked.

"As if you haven't said enough already," Natsume snidely remarked.

"Whatever. Go."

Mikan looked like she was on the verge of strangling a certain midnight-haired boy beside her, but continued anyway. "Miss Imai, before you start with what you're going to say, I would just want you to know that before _he," _she gestured to Natsume with a disgusted look, " – showed up, I still wasn't as resentful about my life when I showed up to work everyday."

Natsume rolled his eyes, infuriating Mikan which then led her to pushing his face away while hysterically screeching, "In fact, I even remembered still being happy before _he _appeared, yeah!"

It only took a few seconds for Natsume to effortlessly peel away Mikan's (vicious) grip on his face and some fewer seconds later to get Hotaru have the both of them pipe down and slightly squirm under her indifferent yet frightening gaze. "Finished yet?"

The both of them nodded.

"Good. Now as I was saying, the reason why I wanted to talk to you two is because of the potential disrepute you might bring to the establishment with your endless lovers' quarrels and temperamental hissy fits," said Hotaru. "Violent reactions?"

"I have one!"

"I don't think your opinion matters, Polka."

"Well who asked you?!"

"Hn."

Hotaru pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed before saying, "And because I don't want to lose my job, I'm going to do something about it because the head honcho says so." She looked at Natsume. "Hyuuga, you're an insomniac, not to mention nocturnal."

"What the f – "

"Effective tomorrow, you're going to work the night shift with Kitsuneme, Anna, and Koko. I'm sure Tobita would be very glad to take your place by then," Hotaru told him.

"Well," he stood up and prepared to leave, "any job away from this blithering idiot is good enough for me."

Mikan suddenly smiled for the first time since she entered Hotaru's office. "Thank goodness!" she exclaimed, not minding Natsume at all when he slowly walked away.

"Don't hug me, idiot. Your three minutes for your daily rant are now up. I think you should leave now too."

Natsume suddenly felt resent as he reached the door. Placing his hand on the cool doorknob, he looked back for the last time and curtly nodded at Hotaru, who in turn nodded back. Then his gaze shifted to Mikan's direction. His eyes lingered on hers for a nanosecond before his lips formed into their signature arrogant smirk.

Finally, he turned to leave.

_Sorry for being a douche, Mikan. _

* * *

**Two months ago, Office of the Management**

"You're serious?" Mikan asked, incredulous.

"Yes, I'm serious," Hotaru affirmed. "You got the job," she said unenthusiastically.

"I – I don't know what to say," Mikan's bright hazel brown eyes misted over, and she was apparently shaking with joy. "I'm just so happy…"

Her raven-haired best friend and now manager rolled her eyes and sighed, "Don't get melodramatic on me now, baka." She carefully wriggled her way out of the brunette's hug and dusted herself off, saying, "Besides, weren't you the one who said that summer jobs sucked?"

Mikan shook her head almost too quickly. "Well, when you told me to get a job, I didn't expect you to be the manager!"

"Well, when I told you to get a job, I didn't expect you to be working for me, either," Hotaru snorted. "And even if you really were in need of one, I just wanted to get you out of my hair that time, anyway."

"Neh, don't be so mean, Hotaru," Mikan huffed, "You know I promised you that I'd be less annoying at work!"

Hotaru arched a perfectly-shaped brow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

When Mikan was about to retort, a knock came at the door.

"Come in," said Hotaru. A second later, a tumble of dark blue hair appeared as a head poked out from behind the door.

"Miss Imai, the Kiddie Crew's here," Nonoko, a girl from Mikan and Hotaru's Trigonometry and Chemistry class; not to mention a close friend of theirs, said. She cheerfully waved at Mikan upon seeing her, then asked, "Should I bring them in?"

"How many are they?" Hotaru inquired.

"About eight," Nonoko simply answered.

"Ok, bring them in." Their manager didn't seem the least bit excited. Mikan, on the other hand, seemed to be quite the opposite.

"Oh, oh, me, me, I wanna see the Kiddie Crew!"

Nonoko giggled and opened the door wider to let a group of kids enter the office. "Come on kids, let me introduce you to the manager," she said, her tone somewhat resembling that of a preschool teacher's.

"Kawaii! They're so cute!" Mikan exclaimed, approaching the nearest tyke in front of her.

Bringing out a clipboard, Nonoko started reading out their names. Seven of them chirped a response but when she got to the last name on the bottom of the list, no reply came.

"Hijiri Youichi?" she repeated. "Is there a Hijiri Youichi here?"

When no answer was made, she worded, "Well that's funny, I could swear I counted eight of the – "

"Hey kid," Mikan called to a little boy whom she noticed was inconspicuously perched on a chair nearest to the door, toying with one of Hotaru's priceless trinkets, "are you Youichi?"

The little boy looked up to reveal big lime-colored eyes, round cheeks and an adorably blank look on his angelic face. He stared at the three teenage girls staring back at him for a bated moment before going back to playing with his newly-found toy.

"Well, that must be him I guess," Nonoko mused, scratching her chin thoughtfully. From behind her, Mikan looked like she just wanted to eat him up. Another story was Hotaru, who suddenly twitched unconsciously as she kept her eyes glued to the object in Youichi's hands with a look that spelled apparent doom altogether.

"Oh I just wanna eat him up!" Mikan crooned, quickly rushing over to Youichi's side. "So you're Youichi huh?"

He simply looked at her again, but slightly nodded.

"Mikan," Hotaru suddenly called.

"Yeah Hotaru?"

"You take him," she said apathetically.

"Huh?" Mikan was already midway in scooping Youichi into her arms.

"Since you're so good with the kid, he's yours," Hotaru said finally, a wicked kind of smile suddenly appearing on her lips.

"Really? That's great!" Mikan cried happily.

"But I'd like the custom-made, one-of-a-kind, stone-encrusted figurine back, please." Hotaru held out her hand. She was strangely calm, but that didn't always mean relatively benign.

And as her best friend, Mikan knew this a little more than anything.

"Uhh, You-chan? You be a good boy and give the figurine back to Miss Imai," Mikan gently chided him. She put him down. "C'mon now, give it back."

Surprisingly, Youichi handed it over to Hotaru – though he seemed very cautious when he approached her. But what astonished Mikan even more was when the little boy actually stuck out his tongue at her.

She was really shocked. "What the fu – "

"Now get to work, Sakura. You too, Hijiri."

* * *

**One month and three weeks ago, McDonald's workplace**

"Now this, Youichi," – Mikan picked up the object she was pointing to –, "is a gravyboat."

And just as expected, no appreciative 'ooh' sound was continued informatively, "Now when people run out of gravy for their chickens, fries or…_err,_ their sundaes, for that matter, they go here and refill their cups. You gots it?"

Youichi nodded, then strode over to the nearest empty chair and took out a video game console from his pocket.

_Hopeless. _

Mikan looked around and took note of the other Kiddie Crew who seemed to be having so much fun with their own big sister or brother crew. She heaved a deep sigh and looked at her Kiddie Crew.

_Really, really hopeless. _

"Hey Youichi, you wanna finger paint with the other kids?" she suggested, desperate.

"No," he simply uttered without looking up from his video game.

"W-why not? It's fun!"

"It's weally stuwpied," came his small voice.

Again, Mikan was really shocked. _The kid's growing up to be an arrogant little – _

"Hey, You-chan." This time she meant business. "I'm not one to be a spoil sport, but…" She grabbed the console away from Youichi, earning her a deadly glare from him that could've made any grown man cower any day.

But Mikan wasn't any grown man; she definitely won't be one any day or ever because that was obviously physically impossible. She was a sixteen-year old teenager who was in dire need of a job and had much better things to be concerned about than a bad hair day or some prissy boy trouble because she didn't want yet another kid to suffer from obesity and eyestrain, for God's sake.

Ok, but maybe she did cringe a little.

"Well, you little rascal," Mikan started, her voice a little too perky and dripping sugary sweet for her own good, "since I'm going to be a softball star when I grow up, I'm not losing my job to a kid who doesn't give a frickin' care about anything at all because I have softball lessons that don't pay themselves because I want to be famous and I want to sleep in hotels and travel and sponsor lots and lots of – ok yeah, I think you get it."

Youichi blinked and reverted back to the same old blank look he wore all the time.

"I know, I know. Definitely hopeless." Mikan mumbled to no one in particular, staring into mid-air. "But since I'm not giving up," she posed a determined pose, "you're coming with me." She looked at Youichi with a resolute gleam in her eyes and pulled him towards the people waiting in line at the middle of the restaurant.

The little boy in tow groaned.

"Oh look over there, let's get you to take their order while they're in line, ok?" Mikan pointed to a group of boys around her age who just came in, handing Youichi a pad of paper and a pencil. "Here."

The group of three lingered at the center for quite some time. One rough argument, a semi-wrestling match, and some muffled cussing later, their company dispersed when the two boys walked away in search of a seat and a midnight-haired boy was left standing in line.

"Well, here goes You-chan," Mikan said off-handedly. "Don't screw this up for me please."

They approached the boy closer who appeared to be wearing a soccer uniform of one of Tokyo's most prestigious all-boy's schools, as Mikan had noticed – not that she was impressed.

"Hello," she greeted him, then gestured to Youichi, "this is Youichi, and he will be taking your order." Mikan gave him a tight-lipped smile, waiting for You-chan to speak up.

Seconds of awkward silence later, the boy (who Mikan noted was quite attractive – not that she was interested) raised his eyebrow. "Well?"

"I –" She looked down at Youichi, who seemed to have this very peculiar expression she's never seen before. "C'mon now, Youichi," she said through gritted teeth. "You can go and greet the nice young man and take the nice young man's order now." Mikan gave him an encouraging push.

_Oh dammit the kid must be having a nervous breakdown, oh shi –_

"Good mowning suhw and welcome to Mcdonawld's," a tiny voice suddenly peeped. "We've gots Big Macs and fwies and evweething ehws."

The boy looked down, disgruntled. Then his expression softened a little.

Needless to say, the force of finding out Youichi has actually greeted someone so politely – not to mention very adorably – was so strong it made Mikan's knees buckle and her heart pace faster. She placed a hand over her chest.

"So little boy, you want me to slow this down for you?" the stranger asked, his voice a nice, husky baritone.

"Pwees and thahnk wu suhw," Youichi courteously answered, taking out the pad Mikan gave him.

"That would be a quarter pounder with regular fries and a regular coke; chicken salad with lemonade minus the chicken and fries; a Big Mac, extra large fries with a side of six-pack nuggets and an extra large rootbeer; and finally a chocolate milkshake, extra froth and two hot fudge sundaes," he dictated, only pausing to hitch up the strap of his sports bag higher onto his (chiseled) shoulder before eyeing Youichi empathetically. "Did you get that?"

The little gray-haired boy of five-and-a-half tapped his pencil speculatively on his chin, still not breaking his gaze from the boy's. "So that woowd bee a wegyulahr-sized lemonaywd, den?"

"Yup."

"Would wu wahyk sum barbekwu sauce wid dah nuggets as well?"

"Yup."

Youichi repeated the boy's order in his cute toddler accent then wrote it down when he got it all right. After handing it over, the boy mussed up his hair in a brotherly way just as he sauntered on over to the counter.

As expected out of any situation like the one that just happened, the mentor, which just so happened to be Mikan, was very, very proud of the protégé, which just so happened to be Youichi. Flinging her arms around his tiny neck, the said mentor, astonished and overjoyed, kissed said protégé repeatedly on his cheeks.

"You did it, You-chan!" she squealed. "Now all you have to do is do the same thing you did with the rest of these people waiting in line and I'll be saved from being screwed from my summer job!"

"No way," he cheekily replied into Mikan's ear, "I gots yuhw cooties awh over me." And like any other person Mikan has tried to 'hug', Youichi wormed out of her arms and looked at his big sister Crew mentor vacantly.

Mikan's face fell. "But… W-What do you mean?"

"I just cleared a stage in Super Mario Brothers, Mikan-nee," the little boy simply shrugged. "I have to save Pwincess Peach naoo." Taking out his console, he sat down at the nearest chair once again.

"But didn't you see yourself out there, You-chan? You were great!"

Youichi didn't answer as he kept his eyes glued to his video game, only giving Mikan more fuel to work on. "So unless you want your freakishly disturbing stage mom to grab you by the ear by the end of this two-month summer activity or my cold, ruthless best friend manager to sack me, or worse, get disappointed at me, then you better go out there and…yeah, do your stuff."

Nonetheless, the distressed mentor continued eyeing her protégé desperately. When no answer came, she finally gave up.

Putting her hands to her waist, she raised her eyebrow. "C'mon You-chan, what is it? I give up."

The protégé looked at his mentor for a while before softly murmuring, "He's cool."

And that was all it took to make Mikan laugh.

-__________-

A tray full of food clanged loudly as it was put down onto the table, much to the surprise of the two boys occupying the table.

"Whoa, what the frick, man," Mochu said dryly, looking up at the tray-clanging table-banger in question.

Natsume simply shrugged and sat down beside Ruka who was already munching on a salad green that just fell off the tray.

"You two owe me," the raven-haired boy of seventeen eyed his two 'buddies' inauspiciously.

"It's not so bad to order for us once in awhile, you know," Ruka said.

"Yeah, and that cashier totally hates me for flir –," Mochu slightly coughed, "_err_, I mean… for no reason at all." He pointed his thumb at a striking seaweed green-haired girl standing by the counter.

Natsume frowned upon seeing who she was. "Hmm, annoying creeper," he commented, " – the girl just can't seem to take her friggin' eyes off of me."

"What the hell is wrong with you, Natsume?!"

"Well," Ruka smoothly cut in, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm starved." The blond-haired seventeen-year old picked up his fork and got ready to eat.

"Yeah, whatever," Mochu rolled his eyes in agreement. "It's not our fault Mr. McSmexy here decides to sit out on every chance a fawning girl gives him. Some of us here are just effin' luc – "

"Enough with the bitterness, Mr. McDrama," Mr. McSmexy snapped.

"Funny," Mr. McDrama muttered scornfully, grabbing his Big Mac. "Golden Boy's right, we should probably eat now before coach even gets to kill us once he finds out we're missing."

Golden Boy looked up from his salad. "Wha – "

Suddenly a fit of laughter erupted from somewhere nearby. The three looked to see who it was along with everyone else inside the restaurant. Turns out it came from a brunette McDonald's Crew who was apparently with the little gray-haired kid who took Natsume's order earlier.

Natsume was surprised – and amused. "Hey, I know her."

"What, so you know her too?!" Mochu slammed his hand defiantly on the table, making Ruka jump in his seat. "_God!_"

"She was with the Kiddie Crew kid who took my order, ok? Nothing special."

By this time, the girl had already vanished inside the kitchen. The boy, as Natsume noticed, was now sulkily seated with the other children who were finger painting in one corner.

"Kind of pretty, if you ask me," Ruka remarked with a smile and a charmed look none of his best friends have ever seen him wear in a long time.

"Yeah, pretty, pretty crazy. I mean, laughing to herself in public? She's definitely mad," Mochu added. Then he suddenly flashed them a sheepish grin. "But really cute like hell yeah."

"Right."

"Oh c'mon man, don't tell me you don't agree!" Mochu griped.

Natsume took a swig from his coke. That was a no.

Mochu sat back, biting off his Big Mac. "You so need a girlfriend, Mr. McSmexy."

Ruka muttered without looking up from his salad, "Just as much as he needs a job."

Natsume narrowed his crimson red eyes. "You guys are douches."

The proclaimed douches raised their hands in surrender.

"Beats me. At least, I'm a douche who isn't egotistic enough to _not_ accept money from my parents."

"For your information, I too am a douche who isn't going to be a girlfriend-less jerk for the rest of my teenage life."

The only non-douche at the table grimaced. "Douchebags."

* * *

**One month and two weeks ago, McDonald's workplace**

When some big corporation wants to sell a bunch of gunk to physically-insecure people and want to make lots and lots of money out of it fast, they usually tell those people about how those creams can work magic in seven days. Attempts like this fare pretty ridiculous to the occasional cynic like Sakura Mikan, because as far she was concerned, those anti-ageing creams weren't making her grandfather look any younger.

And so far, being the frequent optimist she was, she's seen better throughout the span of a week.

On day one, things took the same turn when Youichi took the only order he took that day from that same midnight-haired boy with the Nike sports bag. That was the day when Mikan also found out people were actually selling and buying red contacts.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! _Mikan had mentally scolded herself for staring way too long into his (really mesmerizing) eyes during that time.

Day two was a little bit different because instead of taking orders, Mikan was clearing a table for a group of three boys Youichi took an interest in.

Youichi had pulled Mikan towards the table that day. Mikan, however, was too preoccupied about softball practice that day to even notice she spilt a half-empty cup of orange juice all over this guy's soccer shorts. Though she did remember two of the boys laughing and getting a pat on the back for "making this the best part of my day" or something.

It was Youichi's fault for bringing her over, anyway.

The next day, a semi-bald teenager hit on Mikan when she "tried" to take his order. When he did, the brunette just got so pissed she called Permy over to take his order because "Youichi wanted to go finger paint so badly". Moments later, a very moody Permy stormed in the kitchen in search of a terrified Mikan who was found cowering beside the microwave oven.

By day four, Mikan found out that the raven-haired boy's name was Natsume when Youichi decided to introduce himself. The little kid has just made his first customer friend and his "big sister" couldn't even get any prouder (though she was still a bit embarrassed for holding prolonged eye contact with Natsume the other day).

The day after that, Youichi and Mikan went on cashier duty and took an order from a (cute, charming, and polite) blonde teen; the only customer Youichi talked to on that day. Mikan and Youichi could never forget his cerulean eyes and that dazzling smile he flashed them when he got what he ordered.

Day six, Mikan came to this realization that baldy, golden boy, and Natsume were all friends (who knew?) when the three occupied a table visible from the counter on that non-busy, crowd-free day. They had eaten like there was no tomorrow and looked like they were really tired that day. After they left, Mikan remembered somebody sighing dreamily behind her back.

Now they were on to day seven. Youichi the demon child had a piano recital that day and Mikan wasn't as sure if it was a good or bad thing because if one thing was for sure, she'd be flying solo today. The sixteen-year old brunette didn't believe in seven-day miracles, but for whatever might just happen she just hoped she had already braced herself for the downright embarrassing.

Mikan was halfway through helping Permy out with an order when Hotaru's head poked out of her office door.

"Sakura, tell Shouda I need to see her in my office immediately."

"Roger that, Miss Imai." Mikan winked at her. Hotaru rolled her eyes and gave her best friend a _'just-get-on-with-it'_ look.

"Hey Per – Sumire! Miss Imai wants to talk to you."

"Not now, Sakura," Permy hissed while she appeared to be busy preparing food on the counter.

"But Sumire…" Mikan whined under her breath, "She's giving _me_ the 'look' right now."

Permy waved her off. "I'll see her later."

Seconds later, Hotaru stormed out of her office, walked up to Permy, then pulled her away by the elbow.

"Don't worry, I'll handle it," Mikan called after them. She placed the last two items on the tray which were a quarter pounder and a Big Mac, then she looked up with a smile.

"That wou – " Mikan froze at the sight of a pair of smoldering red eyes gazing directly into hers.

"So could I have my food now?" Natsume asked brusquely.

"Oh, yeah sure." Mikan pushed the tray towards him.

"Hey," Natsume squinted closer towards her nametag, "Mikan?"

"Yeah?"

"What's this?" He held up a napkin with a number scribbled right on it.

The brunette's mouth hung open. _What. The. Frick._

"Sorry," Natsume picked up his tray, "but I'm not interested." Throwing the liable napkin on the counter together with the exact amount of money he needed to pay, he started to walk away.

Mikan immediately came to her senses. "Wait! It's not what you think! That's no – "

"Whatever you say, girl-who-stares-at-me-way-too-awkwardly-long," he said flippantly.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

She so needed a day-off.

-__________-

Sharp, calculative eyes followed the small ball as it curve-sailed through the air. Hands tightened on the bat, feet readied, she took a steady intake of breath.

Mikan was ready. Anytime now…

_Wham!_

The distinct sound of the ball hitting bat was her cue. She started running. To first base, then to second. To the third, and on to the…

She suddenly stopped dead when some loud cursing filled the air. It clearly sounded like it came from the far-off field where the boys' soccer team was training.

_Oh shiz. _

"Sakura, keep running!" one of her teammates screamed. But Mikan was much too dazed to keep on going.

_"Sakura!" _

She looked at her team with a sorry look on her face before running off to whoever might have been hurt. Without any further ado, Mikan leapt over the metal fence circling the perimeter of the girls' softball field despite the angry shouts and calls from her many teammates to come back and hit a homerun. She ran through the field of the boys' baseball field, then leapt over another fence and ran through the all-star basketball team's court. One more metal fence later, she arrived to see a group of boys in the middle of the field huddled over a crumpled figure on the ground.

Sprinting towards them, Mikan cried, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" She bent beside the hurt boy.

"I-It's ok," he winced, but then straightened up a heartbeat later and smiled at her goofily. "You're a wicked awesome batter anyway."

Mikan blushed. Some of the boys around them snickered. The sandy-haired boy continued, "Cute too. You from the girls' softball team?"

She smiled and nodded, offering her hand to him. "Let me help you up. I'm Mikan."

The boy took her hand with a wolfish grin still intact. "The name's Koko."

"Is this yours?" A voice suddenly came up from behind the brunette.

Mikan quickly spun around and almost got a heart attack when she saw who was behind her.

A balding boy that appeared beside Natsume whistled, "Atta boy Natsume, looks like you just scored the winning catch."

"Baldy!" Mikan gasped. "What are you doing here?"

The boy, offended, pointed at Mikan in a hostile manner. "First off, it's Mochu!" But then he put down his hand in a friendly invitation to shake hands right afterwards. "Second, hello Ms. McCrazy, I'm glad to finally know your name. So how does Friday night sound?"

Expectedly, Ms. McCrazy was appalled on so many levels. She jabbed a finger at Mochu's chest. Hard. "Well then baldy, let me tell you this. I am not available on Friday night because I would be working late. You are not to come visit me at work because apparently, none of the girls want you there. And finally – "

"Oi," a gruff voice interrupted her little ramble. "Do you want your ball back or not?"

Mikan flushed immediately at her own blunder then looked down. "Uhm yeah, I think I'd like the ball back." She tried reaching for the softball but Natsume only held it up higher out of reach.

The midnight-haired boy gave her a cocky smirk. Losing her temper, Mikan growled angrily, "I said I'd like the ball back now!"

"What's in it for me? I _did_ score the winning catch," said Natsume.

"Yeah but," Mikan placed her hands on her hips, "you _did_ beat me at my own game and you're just adding more reason for my teammates to murder me for running out on them on a homerun."

And Natsume simply kept on smirking.

"Well then," hissed Mikan, "since you're making this so hard for me, I might as well go run back to the field, get my bat, and club you so hard – especially where it hurts the most until they're finally mistaken for grapes – just because I'm being nice."

The group of boys suddenly burst out laughing, save for Natsume who only kept to an indolent smirk.

All of a sudden, Natsume bent closer towards Mikan until they were directly face-to-face and mere inches apart. Mikan took an involuntary step and withdrew a shaky breath. Her heartbeat heightened.

Some of the boys around _'oohed' _while some simply whistled, much to the chagrin of the only softball player – and girl – on the field.

Natsume's face was alight with a smug and triumphant glow. "Well then," he muttered, "since you're making this so amusing for me, here's something to know – just because I'm being nice."

Despite her racing heart and the late fact that she was probably all pink now, Mikan mustered all the toughness she could muster. She straightened up and asked briskly, "What is it?"

"I'll be seeing you at work tomorrow."

_HOLY – _

Now she's seen everything. This was so definitely not worth her day-off.

* * *

**Present day, McDonald's workplace**

_"I'm really sorry I couldn't make it to work Mikan-chan."_

"Nah, it's ok really," the mentioned brunette said gently.

_"Thanks so much for filling in for me tonight. –cough– I'm really glad to have a lifesaver like you for a friend, dear," _Anna remarked sweetly from the other line.

"It's really no problem. Anything for you, Anna," replied Mikan warmly, trying to stifle the yawn that was threatening to come out.

Oh the things she did for her friends…

She rounded a corner and stopped by the pedestrian lane. At least a dozen cars zoomed by before the stoplight once again turned red.

Mikan abruptly came to a halt in the middle of the pedestrian lane when she saw all the lights were off at the establishment. Sensing danger, she quickly ran towards the double glass doors and pushed them open. The doors weren't locked, but Mikan couldn't see a thing – making her all the more terrified for the worst.

_What the - ?_

"Hotaru?" She saw a pair of velvet eyes gleam at the place where the counter should be.

A cold gust of wind blew through Mikan's suddenly shaking form. Then from out of nowhere, a pair of hands grabbed Mikan by the waist.

She tried to scream but somehow it was just muffled.

…By the sound of many delighted snickers and giggles filling all the four corners of the restaurant.

_What. The. Frick. _

The lights were turned on and Mikan spun around to find a jolly Koko looking down at her with an ear-to-ear Cheshire cat grin.

"Eh?! Koko, what the heck is going on?!" the once scared for her life sixteen-year old now shrieked with the fury of a mighty mountain lion.

Koko didn't let go of his hold around her waist. "Just following Miss Imai's orders as usual!" he answered cheerfully.

"Are you – "

Hotaru suddenly appeared from under the counter with a tray of food on her hand. "What?" she said, addressing the look of utter bewilderment on the brunette's face.

But Mikan simply continued to gape. Hotaru continued, "Can't the owner's daughter and trainee manager rent out this place even just for a night?"

"I – What for?"

The raven-haired girl shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing special." She looked at Koko, ordering, "Yome, bring Sakura to the table."

"Eh?" Koko hefted her onto his shoulder and carried her off to the far-end of the restaurant.

"Tied up, Polka?" Mikan couldn't see who it was but she definitely recognized that voice anywhere.

"What the – Natsu? What are you doing there?" she questioned back, just as she was dumped next to the table Natsume was sitting at. _"What is going on here, Hotaru?"_

"That's Miss Imai to you, Sakura," said Hotaru curtly, before taking her best friend's hand and sitting her down to the seat across Natsume's.

"What is this?!" Mikan cried furiously. "Some sort of _date_?!"

Koko laughed nervously, "Well, kind of."

"Simple enough, Mikan," Hotaru spoke, "your frequent grievances with Hyuuga is a problem and I'm doing something about it."

Mikan turned to Natsume accusedly. "You're part of this too?!"

Natsume shrugged. "She said she'd fire me."

"Oh so were afraid of losing our job now, huh?" Mikan grumbled at him.

"Hyuuga's fired if he bails and ditches. Same goes for you as well, Mikan. So Koko, let's go," Hotaru prompted.

"Haii!"

"But who'd not give in to a free dinner at McDonald's, anyway?" said Natsume.

With an all too innocent look on her face, Mikan cocked her head and batted her eyelashes. "So would you like a dropkick and a pole with your quarter pounder, _sir_?"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "Don't flatter me, Sakura."

"Then what, Hyuuga? What should I do?" asked Mikan, her grave voice having a slight hint of exasperation.

A weighty and silent moment later, Natsume finally looked Mikan in the eye with unwavering crimson eyes. "I'd like for you to enjoy this free dinner with me."

And enjoy it with him, Mikan did.

So at last, though they weren't really able to settle _some_ of their differences at the table and a certain, enraged sixteen-year old brunette girl ended up dumping a milkshake all over a specifically indifferent seventeen-year old midnight-haired boy within some amusing bickering, none of it was actually worth the fuss altogether. All they knew was that despite the frequent arguments that may soon follow and the sticky, cold feeling Natsume got from his shirt on their walk home, it was the way Mikan laughed that night when she scored one on Natsume and how that one kiss tingled on Natsume's cheek when he dropped her off at her house that night that really mattered in the end.

In spite of these things, Mikan still worked at her afternoon hours and Natsume kept to his night shift. Truth be told for the both of them, they would freely (or forcefully) admit that from time to time, working would never be the same without the other ever again. But even though this was so, the moments when Mikan would hit a homerun though would not actually stick around to run home for it when Natsume ends up scoring the winning catch were still their's to keep.

And as far as everyone was concerned, Mr. McSmexy and Ms. McCrazy lived the rest of their teen lives McHappily ever after. Oh, and together with Youichi the demon child, too.

**~ FIN ~**

**

* * *

**Excuse the ridiculous length please. I didn't want to seperate it any more so there you go, it's all merged and mutitated for your scrolling chagrin. Ok, I was kidding. But I _did_ have a really hard time editing this because of the scrolling things. So if you were patient enough to reach this far, well congratulations to you, dearie.

_Hi, review? :)_


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